The average college student acquires over $29,000 in educational debt. The debt of American college students has been steadily on the rise. Tuition has been increasing while the average American families’ income has been decreasing. Some students qualify for federal grants; however, the majority of money used to pay for college is debt that has been borrowed from private lenders. Students who qualify for federal grants must still depend on private lenders to fund their education. “Seven in ten seniors graduated with student loan debt, and a fifth of that debt was owed to private lenders, which often charge higher interest rates.” (CNNMoney) Most students enroll in college to better their lives, provide a more stable environment for their families, or purely to obtain an education to lead them towards a career. Along with the fiercely sought after degree, unwanted debt incurred by the student follows.
Steve Sack, an editorial cartoonist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has captured the look of pride and achievement of the faces of newly graduated students. The creator of the visual argument has ironically linked the joy of graduating with the fear of overwhelming debt. With hands raised and heads held high, the graduates look towards their bright and promising futures. The unsuspecting students are then met with the weight of the debts that have accumulated throughout their college years. According to CNN Money, the job market has not recovered enough to offer all new graduates employment; consequently, many graduates are left without sufficient income to begin repayments of their student loans.
The unfortunate accumulation of debt while obtaining a college degree is, in most cases, is unavoidable. However, the payoff is well...
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...ere are many benefits of obtaining a college degree; consequently, there is also a financial burden of repaying the student loans used to secure the degree. I believe that individuals who can navigate their way through college can certainly navigate their way out of debt.
Works Cited
Cohn, Scott. CNBC. 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 9 May. 2014. .
Ellis, Blake. “Average student loan debt: $29,400.” CNN Money. Time Warner Company, 5 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 May. 2014. .
Hayes, Abby. “4 Ways to Avoid Being Crushed by Student Loan Debt.” U.S. News. U.S. News & World Report LP, 17 Jan 2014. Web. 9 May. 2014. .
Web. 9 May. 2014. .
Martin and Lehren’s article “A Generation Hounded by the Soaring Cost of College” addresses the issue faced by current and former college students dealing with large amounts of debt due to student loans. The article presents the reader with stories of former college students who have either graduated or dropped out, and their struggle to pay off their student loans. The article also talks about issues such as students not being informed about high amounts of student loans and why student debts have increased. Martin and Lehren also make the issue of student debt more intimidating by giving examples of high amounts of student loans students have had. The article gives a very hard reality check to anyone reading as to how bad the problem of student debt is.
Many people would agree that our country’s young adults have and continue to incur a lifetime of debt by enrolling in college. It’s become an almost acceptable understanding that if you plan to attend college, you might as well expect to graduate with an enormous amount of debt. Robin Wilson, a reporter for the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” and author of “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely” suggests student loans are very real and can be life altering.
Wilson, R. (2009). A lifetime of student debt? Not likely. In G. Graff, C. Birkenstein, & R. Durst (Eds.). “They say, I say”: The moves that matter in academic writing with readings. (2nd ed.). (pp. 256-272). New York: W. W. Norton. This article examines how much debt in loans students leave college with and if it is possible to pay it off without it causing extreme distress.
If you are not paying completely for your college tuition, then your parents are helping and or you took out loans and eventually have to pay them back. Seeing how most college freshman are 18 or even 17, means you do not have much money saved if any at all and your parents are stuck paying for everything you need, going to college for more than four years or even at is going to cost you, or should I say your parents. Undergraduate loan borrowing crossed the $100 billion edge in 2010 and aggregate loans surpassed $1 trillion U.S. dollars a year ago. “This (student loans) increase has put a disproportionate burden on students and their families—hence loans. The median household income for a family of four is about 24,300 in 1980, 41,400 in 1990 and 54,200 in 2000. In addition to the debt that students take on there are few statistics on how much parents pay and how they pay it” (Williams 2006). It's not advanced science. It's the economy, Undergraduates and laborers looking for more schooling are obtaining lots of cash through government and private advance projects to help take care of the continued raising expense of school and preparing for careers. Much of the time, parents in charge of the undergraduate loans are in or are close to
Doyle states in his article, “As of this writing, the total amount of outstanding student loan debt has been estimated at $960 billion (Kantrowitz, 2011).” Right now, there is only 7.4 billion people on earth, but not all of those people are in debt. So, massive debt with not near enough people to even cover the debt on the whole planet put this issue into perspective. Many people talk about applying for scholarships but scholarships can only cover so much of the price, and even then, the scholarships aren’t guaranteed. Now what about paying off the loans? How will that take? “First, incomes vary tremendously across different choices of majors and professions. Second, the incomes of individuals starting out in the labor market vary according to the state of the labor market at that time.” There are many different factors that go into this process. As stated in the previous paragraph, those who do both work and school are more apt to pay their debt off at a quicker pace. But, how much they make and how often they paid is another contributing factor. If the average college student is making minimum wage (part time) and is going to an in
Most people today accept the debt that comes from college. Students consider student loan debt as a “good debt.” They see other students make this mistake but follow their path anyway. Nearly 80% of college-bound students have not projected the total amount of money they will need to graduate college.
and tuition plays a major role in students’ decision for attending college. Students according to a 2008 national survey of roughly 1800 students who qualified to attend college 1000 students of those 1800 did not attend college at all. The main reason claimed by 80 percent of the “non-college-goers” was due to lack of money, more especially not enough grant aid. Although a student was well qualified to attend college having no financial aid made their choice to attend impossible. On the other hand, students who couldn’t receive enough grant aid sought other alternatives to go into college like getting loans. Depending on the amount of years one chooses to attend college it can rack up to an unbelievable amount. According to Edvisors, a financial aid website, “The class of 2015 graduated with $35,051 in student debt on average.” Imagine that! It’s no wonder that the students who didn’t receive enough grant aid chose not to attend college. It was because they did not want to accumulate a debt that in most cases they would have to pay throughout their lives, claiming that tuition cost is too much for
It is a norm and expectation in society today for students to pursue higher education after graduating from high school. College tuition is on the rise, and a lot of students have difficulty paying for their tuitions. To pay for their tuitions, most students have to take out loans and at the end of four years, those students end up in debt. Student loan debts are at an all time high with so many people graduating from college, and having difficulties finding jobs in their career fields, so they have difficulties paying off their student loans and, they also don’t have a full understanding of the term of the loans and their options if they are unable to repay.
When young adults complete high school they’re encouraged to enroll in a higher education program. With the constant talks of soaring tuition costs, in addition to the massive student loan debt, taking this step can be worrisome. Reyna Gobel, a journalist on financing college education and repaying student debt, states. “It’s easy to stop believing that a college education is worth it when the nation has over a trillion dollars in debt, but college graduates still earn more over a lifetime than those without a degree. Plus, they’re more employable.” More than three-quarters of all college graduates agree that higher education is indeed still worth the cost. Additional education in a field you’re passionate towards
Children of the twenty first century spend nearly 13 years in school, preparing for what is college, one of the only ways to achieve the so-called “American Dream”. College is the best way to start an advanced career and go further than one possibly could if college degrees were not available, allowing people to achieve their view of the American Dream; whether it be large houses, shiny cars, multiple kids, or financial comfort, college is the stepping stone to achieve the American Dream. But all great things come with a price, college dragging along debt. Students who attend college struggle to find ways to pay for it, leading to applying for student loans. These loans a great short term, paying for the schooling at the moment but eventually the money adds up
As of 2016, American students have accrued a massive 1.3 trillion in student loan debt. Just 10 years ago, the nation’s balance was only $447 billion (Clements). This ever-present cumulative burden has caused many post graduate Americans to delay important life events such as marriage, homeownership and children because of this substantial encumbrance (Clements). The debt will only continue to grow with neglect, so the most effective action to take would be eliminating the cost altogether.
Is College worth the debt? You and I can both agree that education is vital in this day and age. But is it smart to take the risk and not go to college? College is worth the debt because after everything is done, you will have something to show for it. In the end you will make more money, you would have gotten a higher education and you will end up being happy with what you have and are going to accomplish.
The cost of college tuition continues to increase each year. If this keeps increasing the way it has been, students will be indebted the rest of their life. Author of “The Looming Student Loan Crisis”, Jackson Toby states that student loans have increased along with the increase of tuition costs. In 2004, the average unpaid student debt was approximately $18,650...
“Debt Burden: Repaying Student Debt.” American Council on Education. One Dupont Circle NW. Sep. 2004. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.
Although adults with a college degree have a higher salary than those who do not, student debt is hurting college graduates. ProCon says, "between 2003 and 2012 the number of 25-year-olds with student debt increased from 25% to 43%, and their average loan balance was $20,326 in 2012-a 91% increase since 2003" ("Is a College. . ." 2). Ten percent of graduate students have over $40,000 in debt and roughly 1% have over $100,000 in debt ("Is a College. . ." 2). With student debt on the rise, it will be a strong defense on whether college is worth it or